Pancreatic Cancer

On Memorial Day Week End, 1999, my father breathed his last, surrounded by all of his children and grandchildren. During those last days, I remember watching the shallow movements of his chest, wondering how on earth he was getting enough oxygen to stay alive. The end was subtle. And final.

Today I got two e-mails. One informed me that the father of a former parishioner has been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. Those words (pancreatic cancer) impact me in a different way because they are personal. However, more difficult was the other e-mail. A high school student, named Trey, was also diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He is also stage four and  he has been told that he can expect to live another three to six months, at most a year.

There is something tragic, yet fitting, for someone in their sixties or seventies to die of cancer. No one lives forever. A life cut short in the latter years seems less unfair. But a teen aged football player? A couple weeks ago on a church retreat he complained of a stomach ache. Now he knows the clock is ticking. The family asks for prayers. How many times have we seen a similar situation? Believing, yet heartbroken parents begging God for mercy. Death quietly lurking in the corner, waiting to sweep in and capture another victim to add to his haul.

I have been pondering different models or analogies of salvation the last week or so. Yesterday I wrote of healing. Our souls are sick and need God's touch to make us whole. For these two men, that time is short. How does God weigh the response of an old man (who is reportedly agnostic) or a young boy as they die of pancreatic cancer. Is their suffering redemptive? How completely must they believe and love God? And at what point is their repsonse determinative? Does grace imply God finds a way? Or are their strict rules which allow no wiggle room?

I think that it is clear that God honors our decision to turn away. He lets Sin have its way with us if we choose Sin over Him. I also know that God desires that all be saved. All. Everyone. Regardless of what they are and what they do, God wants them. Words like Love, Mercy, Longsuffering, especially when applied to God, are the foundation of hope. Say a prayer for these two, one young, one not so young. Pray that they will turn to the Lord and live. Pray for their passage into the heart of God. Pray also for those touched by their demise that they will come to know, to love and to serve the Lord. Pray in thanksgiving that such a gracious Lord is our Father in Heaven.